By Paul Vozzella
Hometown Weekly Sports Reporter
The search for win No. 1 continues as the rugby team lost 40-24 to Algonquin Regional at home on Thursday evening, as its record fell to 0-4.
The Rockets made for an intriguing game throughout the second half after going into halftime with a 26-7 deficit.
Starting with possession, Needham marched down the field, falling just short of the try line. As Algonquin took over possession, sophomore Katie Fitzmaurice threw her body on the line, leaping in front of a punt to block the ball. Although Algonquin quickly regained possession, the Rockets halted its opponent’s offensive attack.
Moments later, standout junior Julia Cohen broke off for a try of over twenty yards. Junior Sophia Katz scored on the conversion to cut the deficit to 26-14. Cohen was not done with the highlights, however.
Later on in the half, Cohen took a kick-off over forty yards, breaking multiple tackles and was only stopped by the last person standing in between her and the try line. With the run, she set up junior Grace Tetrault for a twelve yard try to make it a one possession game – her second score of the game, following the only first-half score for Needham.
The efforts came after co-head coaches Dina Hannigan and Sarah Rawan made major halftime adjustments to the backs and the pack.
“We worked on making longer passes at pace,” said Rawan on the backs. “That really worked to our advantage because we were able to move the ball more down the field and recycle better.”
“As far as the pack was concerned, [we focused on] resetting,” added Hannigan. “We were not winning; we typically win the scrums. We were kind of unbalanced, so [we took] a look at what was wrong and fixed that for the scrums.”
Algonquin answered Needham’s efforts by finding a hole in the Rockets’ defense, booking a 60-yard run down the left sideline to bring its lead to 33-19. Needham did not shy away, however. Tetrault managed to score again, but the pivotal conversion was missed to make it a 33-24 affair.
“The emphasis for the whole team was keeping the energy up,” said Hannigan. “Keeping the [mindset] that this was a winnable game. Keep the energy up, stay positive, stay motivated, and go out there with the mindset to win.”
Cohen kept that winning mentality in mind while breaking multiple tackles on a kick return again, but the ball was turned over at the eight-yard line. Algonquin followed up with another big run down the left sideline and an eventual score to put the dagger into Needham.
The Rockets have two more opportunities to mark their first tally in the win column against Cambridge Rindge and Brookline.
